


Lip Gloss

by faintresonance



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Future, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Love Expert Yukina, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-03 09:16:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19460968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faintresonance/pseuds/faintresonance
Summary: After Yukina makes an unexpected observation, Rinko finds herself reflecting upon her relationship with her best friend.





	1. An Observation

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again!
> 
> After I saw some fan art of Ako after a sudden growth spurt, I found myself thinking about how her and Rinko's relationship might possibly change in the future, so I thought I'd write a little something about it.
> 
> I wasn't really planning to post this just yet, or to even separate it into multiple chapters, but since today is Ako's birthday, I felt like putting it out there.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Say, Rinko .. doesn’t it seem like you might be in love with Ako?”

It was a typical Sunday afternoon in the CiRCLE studio, and Roselia had finished their latest practice session almost an hour ago. While the other band members had long since left for the day, Rinko had announced that she would be staying behind to practice some more on her own. Yukina, to most everyone’s surprise, had decided to join her.

Roselia’s pianist was just beginning to play through the intro of “Ringing Bloom” for the second time when Yukina asked her the question. With a startled yelp, Rinko pressed down hard on the keys of her synthesizer, using all ten fingers at once, and the ensuing noise was painful enough to threaten the composure of even the most seasoned musician.

“Yu .. y-yu .. yu .. Yukina-san!?”

After she had calmed down enough to form something that resembled a sentence at least in passing, Rinko turned to look at the other woman as if she had suddenly grown a second head.

“I do notice these things, you know.”

Minato Yukina, vocalist of Roselia, finally turned around to face her fellow band member.

“You have been acting a bit odd lately. Gazing at Ako more often than not, smiling when she compliments our costumes. I would like to think that after spending so many years together, I am capable of discerning at least that much.”

The band had indeed been both rehearsing and performing together for more than five years now, and ever since Lisa had somehow managed to convey her feelings to her childhood friend - Yukina had accepted those feelings, of course, to the surprise of no one except Lisa - the singer had changed somewhat. A part of that was reflected in how she seemed to be paying significantly more attention to the individual members of Roselia.

Rinko had so far made no attempt to actually respond to her question with anything more than a distressed stare, so Yukina continued.

“It may not be any of my concern, and your performance has certainly not been suffering as of late. Quite the opposite, in fact. But I do consider you my friend, Rinko, and I have come to learn that certain aspects of romance are indeed worth .. pursuing.”

Yukina started to gather her things, and when she was done and Rinko still did not react, she turned around to face the pianist once more.

“You do not need to act rashly, or even at all. But I do suggest that you at least consider my words. I will see you next week, Rinko.”

With that, Yukina made her way towards the door and left the studio. After she was gone, Rinko spent the remaining time contemplating the idea of being in love with her best friend.

“Do I .. love Ako-chan like that?”

That particular question would continue to occupy Rinko’s thoughts for a while longer.

* * *

Whether they had been accurate or not, Yukina’s observations led Rinko to reconsider her interactions with Roselia’s drummer in the weeks that followed.

Ako had been her best friend for years now, and during those years, they had spent a considerable amount of time together. This by itself was not surprising, as practice sessions and performances with Roselia demanded a lion’s share of their free time. But outside of band activities, too, they had met up on many occasions - whether it was to play games like Neo Fantasy Online, which was how they had first met, or to have sleepovers at either of their homes.

Rinko had never considered herself outgoing, and she’d never been very good at making friends. Meeting Ako hadn’t changed how she liked to spend time on her own every now and then, doing things like reading a book or working on Roselia’s costumes. But simply being around the energetic girl had prompted her to take a first step out of her shell, and Rinko had suddenly found her world to be growing day by day. It had been intimidating at first, as change often was, but having Ako at her side had made her feel confident enough to take on the new challenges she had found herself facing, and she soon started to enjoy this new part of her life.

Without a doubt, meeting Udagawa Ako had helped her grow into the woman she was today.

As the years had passed, however, Rinko had not been the only one to change. Ako had started to grow a lot taller after entering high school, and though she was still shorter than her sister Tomoe, as Ako proudly insisted, it had been barely an inch that separated them by the time she had graduated. Her body had grown more feminine, too, and she had gained more and more fans and supporters during their concerts. Ako was convinced that her improvement as a drummer, combined with their band’s rising popularity, was the only reason for that.

Drummers were cool, after all. And so was Roselia.

Rinko, who was always watching her friend, had not missed any of these things, of course. But until Yukina mentioned how much she had been looking at Ako lately, she hadn’t really been aware of the effect the young woman had on her. And she was quite certain that Ako wasn’t aware of it, either.

Lost in thought, she had been staring at her monitor for at least an hour now, but when she eventually reached for the mouse to shut down her computer, a message appeared on her preferred chat program with a soft ‘pling’.

“Rin-rin! I know it’s late, but I just got the last item to summon the new event boss! Help me beat him, pleeease?”

She smiled when she read the text, and within minutes, Rinko was logged into NFO, ready to play. Some things hadn’t changed, and she was grateful for that.


	2. An Interruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rinko tries to figure things out, but Ako ends up confusing her even more.

Their next practice session approached rapidly, and before Rinko had managed to find an answer to even a single one of her questions, it was time for Roselia to meet up at CiRCLE again.

Everyone was assembled before long, and fortunately, practice followed the same pattern it usually did. Yukina didn’t speak a word about what had happened before, and much to the pianist’s relief, it did not seem like Ako was able to read Rinko’s mind, either. They warmed up with a few of their older songs, melodies they had played so many times over that Rinko could practically hit the right keys in her sleep. Nonetheless, everyone seemed to be giving it their all, and after an hour of almost nonstop rehearsal, it was soon time for their first break.

“Alright, everyone. We will return to practice in thirty minutes. Lisa has finished the lyrics for our new song, so we will make it today’s goal to perform it at a satisfactory level.”

Their vocalist let go of her microphone, and both Sayo and Lisa set down their instruments, as well. Ako, meanwhile, leaned back on her drum seat and reached for her towel to wipe the sweat off her forehead.

“Yukina~! Let’s get something to drink!”

Lisa didn’t waste any time in approaching her girlfriend, and though Yukina did blush a little once the bassist wrapped an arm around her shoulders, she gave a small nod and allowed Lisa to lead her outside. Clearing her throat a little louder than might have been strictly necessary, Sayo followed them through the door that led out of the studio.

Ako moved to get up from behind the drums, but then turned to look at Rinko instead, who still seemed to be busy with her synthesizer.

“Rin-rin! Do you want to get a drink, too? It’s break time, you know!”

The pianist suddenly looked up from her instrument and turned to see that everyone else except Ako and herself had left the room. She shook her head, a mild blush spreading across her face.

“N-no, I want to .. practice the solo part .. for our new song. When Yukina-san wrote it .. she said that she had high expectations, so .. I want to get it right.”

Ako eventually left her seat and stepped around the other members’ instruments, stopping in front of the keyboard with her arms crossed. Rinko found herself looking up at her friend.

“You have to take breaks too, Rin-rin! You’re already super good, and Yukina-san knows that too, or she wouldn’t write those difficult parts for you!”

Rinko let out a small sigh and looked down at her keyboard.

“I’m not as good .. as Yukina-san thinks I am .. Ako-chan. So I have to work harder .. because she trusts me.”

“Hmm, I don’t know! Rin-rin’s totally cool, you know. When we’re on stage and you get a solo, everyone’s always staring at you like ‘woah’, and even Yukina-san looks impressed!”

The drummer looked at her friend with a thoughtful frown.

“But Rin-rin’s also super pretty, of course, so that’s extra bonus points on top. If I was a fan, I’d probably stare too!”

It wasn’t the first time that Ako had complimented her like that, grinning proudly almost as if she was getting praised herself. She was always genuine about it, too, and Rinko got the impression that for her friend, at least, the words were nothing less than fact.

This time, however, with everything that had happened recently, and with Yukina’s words fresh in her mind, the blush that spread across Rinko’s face was too bright to stay hidden. 

“U-um!”

She took a step back from her keyboard and, staring at her own feet, tried to find the right words to form a response.

“I .. I think that Ako-chan is .. very beautiful too! Ako-chan has always been .. beautiful to me, both now and .. before, too .. “

The pianist seemed to deflate more and more with every word that left her mouth, until finally she trailed off and simply stood there, small and vulnerable, her eyes glued to the floor of the studio.

For a few painfully slow seconds - they felt like hours to Rinko - everything was quiet. She was already thinking feverishly about what she could say to pass off her words as a joke, what she could say so they’d both share a laugh instead of this awkward silence that was currently filling the room, but when she was just about to open her mouth, it was the sound of Ako’s boots that broke the silence, as the young woman stepped around the keyboard that was still separating them, coming to a halt in front of her.

“You know, Rin-rin .. “

Rinko held her breath as she waited for Ako to continue. What she did not expect, however, was for the drummer to reach out and lift her chin with gentle fingers, so that their eyes would meet again.

“I dunno, but somehow you’re super extra pretty today.”

Ako watched her with a thoughtful frown, like she was trying to figure something out.

Rinko swallowed audibly, and her face turned an even deeper shade of crimson. She had no idea what was happening, and she wasn’t convinced that Ako had even understood the meaning behind her words, and the inside of her head felt like a complete mess, but for just a moment, she felt hopeful.

Until the door to the studio opened, and the remaining members of Roselia spilled back into the room, led by a very flustered Sayo.

Rinko jumped when she heard the guitarist’s voice, and quickly broke any form of physical contact between Ako and herself. Since she was still standing behind her instrument, she had nowhere to run, so she desperately hoped that nobody would notice anything out of the ordinary.

“I am simply saying that it is not necessary to k-kiss in public, Imai-san, even if no one except myself was there to witness it!”

Lisa entered the studio behind the guitarist, followed by Yukina. Judging by the look on the vocalist’s bright red face, she would rather have been anywhere else, and Lisa might have been holding her hand simply to keep her from running away.

“Aw, don’t be like that, Sayo! It’s not like I was planning to do it, and it looked like you were still busy ordering, so .. “

Despite her casual response, the bassist could not hide a small blush of her own.

“Hey, Lisa-nee, what’s going on? I want in, too!”

Ako noticed the commotion, and, without missing a beat, joined her bandmates by the door. It almost seemed like she had forgotten about her exchange with Rinko just moments before.

The pianist wasn’t sure what exactly it was that had just happened, but while she was thankful for the sudden distraction, she also felt disappointed that the moment had ended so soon. Thinking about it made her feel surprisingly warm, and she found herself wondering what might have happened had they not been interrupted.


End file.
